Dominion LNG wins US environmental approval

The Dominion plan to export LNG from Cove Point, Maryland, cleared the US review, a key step toward final approval as supporters in Congress seek to expedite shipments.

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By BRIAN WINGFIELD

Bloomberg

The Dominion Resources plan to export liquefied natural gas
cleared a US environmental review, a key step toward final
approval as supporters in Congress seek to expedite overseas
shipments of the fuel.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval of
Dominions proposed Cove Point project on Marylands
Chesapeake Bay would have no significant impact
on the environment, as long as proper measures are taken, the
staff said in an environmental assessment.

The full commission is scheduled to issue a final decision on
Cove Point by Aug. 13. Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass is the
only US project to win approval from the
FERC and Energy Department.

Dominion of Richmond, Virginia, is seeking to take advantage
of a boom in US natural gas production, driven by advances in
drilling techniques including hydraulic fracturing, or
fracking. Cove Point, which may cost as much as $3.8 billion
to build, is scheduled to begin shipments in late 2017.

Advocates of natural-gas exports in Congress and the industry
in recent months have seized on the potential for US supplies
of the fuel to cut Europes reliance on Russia.
Europe gets about 30% of its
natural gas from Russia, which annexed Ukraines Crimea
region in March.

FERC, Energy

US facilities that plan to ship gas
to nations without a free-trade agreement with the US need
Energy Department approval in addition to passing the
FERC-led environmental review. Cove Point
has already won Energy Department approval. Most of the
proposed projects wont start
exporting until 2017 or 2018, as the facilities take time to build.

House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, and Senate
Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Mary
Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, are among lawmakers who have
called for expedited approvals.

Dominion, which is modifying an existing import terminal
about 62 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Washington, DC,
will liquefy the gas and provide export services from Cove
Point. It wont own the fuel.

The company has in place 20-year contracts with affiliates of
Japans Sumitomo and Gail India of New Delhi. Neither Japan
nor India have free-trade deals with
the US.

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Even though the mentioned free trade deals and agreements. LNG trade market shall be an economical and also political weapon to make pressure over certain world regions and also countries against the Russia LNG sales operation ...For such economical and political measurements US shows that the perorated free market does not exist. It means that is "jungle law" "wilderness law" or "the stronger law" what prevails